Lack of Effort or Lack of Ability? Robot Failures and Human Perception of Agency and Responsibility

Research on human interaction has shown that attributing agency to another agent has substantial consequences for the way we perceive and evaluate its actions. Specifically, considering an agent’s actions related to either effort or ability can have important consequences for the attribution of responsibility. This study indicates that participants’ interpretation of a robot failure in terms of effort –as opposed to ability– significantly increases their attribution of agency and –to some extent– moral responsibility to the robot. However a robot displaying lack of effort does not lead to the level of affective and behavioural reactions of participants normally found in reactions to other human agents.